Legend of a 'Bilocating Nun' Comes to Life in Angelo State History Lecture

SAN ANGELO, TX - Angelo State University's Dr. Arnoldo De Leon Department of History will present its fourth annual Lone Star Lecture Series featuring Dr. Juliana Barr, an associate professor of history at Duke University, on Thursday, March 27, in the Houston Harte University Center, 1910 Rosemont Drive.

Titled "La Dama Azul: How the Story of a Bilocating Nun Travelled the Indigenous Highways of the Southwest," Barr's presentation will begin at 6 p.m. in the University Center's C.J. Davidson Conference Center and is free and open to the public.

In her presentation, Barr will discuss the story of the legendary Lady in Blue, a 17th-century Spanish nun said to have appeared to members of the Jumano tribe, who lived in present-day Texas. Known as Maria de Jesus de Agreda, she was also said to have the power of bilocation and is one of the most important figures in Texas' religious history. Barr will focus on what happened to the story of the Lady in Blue after 1629, when Spaniards carried the story into other indigenous lands across the Southwest Borderlands.

A Duke University faculty member since 2015, Barr previously taught at Rutgers University and the University of Florida. She specializes in the history of early America, the Spanish Borderlands and American Indians. Her book, "Peace Came in the Form of a Woman: Indians and Spaniards in the Texas Borderlands," was published in 2007 - and she is currently working on a new book, "La Dama Azul (The Lady in Blue): A Southwestern Origin Story for Early America." She holds a Ph.D. in American women's history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Lone Star Lecture Series annually hosts outside scholars of Texas history to deliver a keynote address coinciding with the anniversary of Texas Independence in March. It is supported by ASU's Dorsey B. Hardeman Endowed Chair in History.